Talkline | July 23, 2025 - MetroNews Talkline

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Speaker 2 (01:05):
Good morning, Welcome into the program Metro News talk Line
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You can be part of the show. Give us a
call at eight hundred seven sixty five Talk eight hundred
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(01:26):
is three oh four Talk three h four coming up.
Greg Thomas gop Strategists will join us in a mere
matter of moments later this morning, Jonathan Board, we'll talk
about how opioid settlement dollars are being spent by counties
around the state. We'll get an update from the northern
Panhandle as the federal disaster declaration finally comes from Washington,

(01:47):
plus Joe Braccado as the best Virginia basketball team advances
onto the national quarter finals. Brad McElhenny will make an
appearance as well. With all of that, say, good morning
the TJ. Meadows in Charleston Bureau this morning. Hello Tjay,
Good morning, sir.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
Lots of traffic backed up on sixty four as I
came in this morning. Yet again another pothole, Dave. I
don't know, I've lost count Where are we at now?
Three four or something like that.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
So it's not just April, you know, pothole that kind
of I assume this is another mega hole.

Speaker 5 (02:17):
That the mars of potholes.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
It shouldn't be happening, but you know it is.

Speaker 5 (02:25):
So I mean, look, they're going to redo the deck
on the bridge, and we're talking about for those that
aren't familiar with the Charleston area, we're talking what I
call the big Blue bridge that goes over the Canaal River,
the Eugene Carter Bridge sixty four. You know, you got
seventy seven sixty four seventy nine, all coming to gather
traffic eventually going over that bridge keeps you know, whole
after hole. They're going to redo the deck in twenty seven.
I don't think we're going to make it to twenty seven.

(02:47):
I mean, Jeff Jenkins told me that they're going to
look to do something in twenty six. I don't even
know if we'll make it to twenty six.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
We just got to get the hole fixed. Good luck
with that if you were in the Charleston area. As
the day goes on, all right, The West Virginia GOP
will hold it Samuel Conference this weekend in Morgantown. It
will select a new chairman. There's also been some talk,
although it doesn't seem like it's going to go anywhere,
about revisiting the decision that was made last year to
close primaries to unaffiliated voters. Greg Thomas is a long

(03:16):
time GOP strategist and consulting here in West Virginia. He
joins us on Metro News talk line this morning. Greg,
Good morning, glad you can join us.

Speaker 6 (03:25):
Good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for the opportunity to be with
you today.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Appreciate you coming on. So Greg start, let's start here,
What would be your advice to whomever ends up as
the state GOP chair.

Speaker 6 (03:37):
Look, I think a little bit of this has to
We got to go back a little bit in time
to realize how we got here, right. I think part
of the problem with this is a lot of the
people involved in the current day Republican Party were not
people that twenty years ago were involved or ten years
ago were involved. You know, the first state Senate race
I ran was in two thousand and two, and heck,

(03:57):
we probably didn't have twenty five percent of this state
was Republican, right, so you had to have every Republican,
you had to have seventy five eighty percent of the independents,
and then you still had to go out and get
twenty five percent of the Demo. You know, the conservative
Democrats back then, and so you know, the independents in
this state are very much part of what helped us

(04:19):
gain the majority ten years ago, you know, And that
was part of that team that came in and said, hey,
eighty four years of Democrat control is enough. And now
you know, here we are a decade in and what
I think's really happened is, I think you've got a
core group of former Democrats. You know, I call them

(04:39):
sort of the Robert C. Bird Democrats. And these are
these big government, you know, pro trial lawyer, high tax,
pro union folks that are sort of extreme on some
of the social conservative issues. They've got a stranglehold on
the party right now. They're only about thirty five percent
of the party, about a third of the Republican Party.

(04:59):
But but you know, they're very involved in some of
these kind of internal processes, and they're the ones kind
of saying, hey, you know, we want to have control, right,
we want to have you know, it's a shortsighted thing
to say, what can I do to get power? So
I think this is a I think closing it was

(05:21):
a bad idea. It's not like we have sixty percent
of the state as Republican, right, It's like forty right,
Like I don't think I just don't think these guys
are very good at mass you know what I mean.
So I think they look at it. I mean, if
we were sixty percent, it's a different conversation. But you
still need independence to win in the fall. And I've

(05:41):
been at this for over twenty five years now. I
mean that pendulum swings back and forth, and so I
think some of these people involved making these short term
decisions just don't have the long view. And I also
just don't think they kind of share our overall conservative
you know, sort of comprehensive conservative ideal to move the
state forward.

Speaker 5 (06:02):
So, Greg, that third of the party that's making the
decisions that you talk about that I assume you believe
once to keep the primaries closed, are they banking that
independents will say, well, shucks, I'll just stay home. I mean,
is that what they're banking on, because you're right, the
numbers they can't win without some level of independent support
in a general election.

Speaker 6 (06:20):
Yeah, I think that's what they want.

Speaker 7 (06:21):
Though.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
I think part of this, though, is a lot of
these people they weren't even Republicans like pre Trump, right,
So I think a lot of these folks just have
looked at it and said, Okay, Trump's here, Trump's bringing
this kind of new coalition of people. We don't need
those in it. We don't need those guys right now
in a post Trump world. I think those people are

(06:43):
in a for a world of hurt. I think because
a lot of you know, they just kind of go
out there and talk about pro Trump messages and look,
and I'm a Trump person, right, I mean I ran
the Trump campaign in West Virginian twenty sixteen. Like, I'm
a pro Trump guy. I just don't think they unders
stand sort of how the politics has changed in West

(07:04):
Virginia and you know, because of Trump, and so I
still think we have to go out there and be
attractive to independence, be attractive to you know. To me,
it's just traditional Republicans, right, I mean, you know, because,
like I said, some of these people come in and
they pick out some of these wedge issues. You know.

(07:25):
To me, it's we spent twenty years trying to put
this big tent conservative coalition together where now you have
a handful of select people. I mean, this is the
Patricia Rucker Robert Carnes sort of group that they just
want an umbrella, right. They don't want a big tent.
They want to like have three people standing under an

(07:45):
umbrella where they have control and they get to dictate
what's going on. And I think that that viewpoint comes
because a lot of those people are former Democrats.

Speaker 7 (07:55):
Right.

Speaker 5 (07:55):
Let me let me stop you there. How important is
a party chair to that? How important is the state
part chir whoever gets this job Saturday in either jumping
on the team you're talking about or jumping on the
side that you're backing.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
Look, I haven't I don't go to those Republican Party
meetings anymore. I mean to me, you know, when this
came up, it was like, and you know, I saw
some of the stuff you were posting on social media,
and you know I've been to receiving phone calls and
things like that too. Hey, what do you think I
mean to me? Once herriage left, Like, the priority now
has just got to be Hey, let's go get a chairman, right, Like,
let's go get a chairman, Let's settle this down, let's

(08:31):
figure out what our direction is going to be here
over the next twelve to eighteen months. You would still
have time, you know, because I think the party really
only needs to address this before the end of the year, right,
I mean, they don't have to do this next weekend.
They could do it later, they don't have to do
it at all. You know, I don't know how much.
I don't think this is going to have a huge

(08:52):
impact in twenty six. I don't think it'll have a
huge impact in twenty eight. I'm more concerned about twenty thirty,
twenty thirty two, twenty thirty four. You know, I mean
when you do this stuff, when you say, Okay, we're
going to close the primaries, we're going to limit voter
participation in our party, You're hurting a lot of the
military voters are independents, younger voters are you know. I

(09:16):
think this is just a very shortsighted thing for a
few politicians that this helps them in the short term,
and they just don't have the long term view. I mean,
like I said, I've been at this for twenty something
years now. You know, I'll be involved in this for
twenty more years. I'm forty seven, right, I've got another
twenty years probably to deal with this stuff. And that's
what I'm thinking about, is what about five years from now,

(09:37):
ten years from now. And that's the kind of stuff
that a new party chair could come in and say, Hey,
we're not going to have a five month plan. Let's
put together a five year plan. And I think that
keep getting the primaries back open would be that kind
of five year plan.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Greg Thomas is joining US long time Republican strategist here
in West Virginia. GOP having its conference this weekend in Morgantown. Greg,
I want to go back to something you said right
there in the open and that the control of the
party has been wrestled away by folks you say were
former Democrats. How did that happen?

Speaker 6 (10:11):
Well, I think part of it was just, you know,
those coalitions have always been there, right, and they and
so they you know, there's a lot of them in
West Virginia, right that the personal injury lawyers have a
ton of money, They have a lot of influence, that
pro you know, the kind of the old school pro
union stuff is there. There's just that, you know, Robert Byrd,
they had this big government sort of mentality in West

(10:33):
Virginia for for fifty years, and so there's just still
a lot of remnants of that and special interest groups
that represent those sort of ideals and they come in
and they give money to some of these other new Republicans,
these new Republicans, Right Laura Chapman, all you say as
an example, she's a state senator from Ohio. She just
had a fundraiser in Charleston in June, whereas she raised

(10:55):
thirty you know, she raised twenty eight thousand dollars from
from liberal Democrat trial lawyers in Charleston, Jillie Race thirty
thousand total. Right, So of ninety five percent of your
money's coming from Democrats in Charleston, How conservative are you?

Speaker 7 (11:10):
Right?

Speaker 6 (11:10):
Like, that's not very conservative to me, you know. And
so so I think that's what's happened is you've had
some of these people they you know, they put a
Trump flag on their pickup truck and they ran for
house at Elliots and nobody asked them how they felt
about the jobs issues, or the roads issues or anything else.
You know, they're out here talking about you know, they

(11:30):
spend all their time talking about vaccines and transgender stuff.
When the average voter in West Virginia wants them to
talk about jobs, they want to talk about road. I mean,
you know, like you said, TJ, you can't even get
into downtown Charleston because of the road.

Speaker 5 (11:45):
That's a crazy challenge, right.

Speaker 6 (11:47):
I mean, yeah, I mean it's got to be, you know.
And so I think in this upcoming election, the people
were running for legislature, the candidates that are out there
talking about jobs and talking about roads and talking about schools,
they're the ones that are gonna win. Whether it's a
close primary or not, I still think they'll win. You know,
I think this open closed primary thing is a long

(12:08):
term thing. I mean, I think they should keep it open.
I don't think it's going to matter in twenty six,
twenty eight. I think it's a long term thing that
we just need to have that long term view. And
I think a lot of these politicians that you know
are really backed by those old Democrat you know, Robert
Bird interests. They'll go away, they'll get beat, they'll go away.

(12:30):
We'll expose them and we can kind of get back to,
you know, get back to what we're doing for the
last ten years, which was passing the most conservative agenda
in the entire nation.

Speaker 5 (12:40):
Greg politics is politics. Politicians will do what politicians do.
I got hold of a survey that's floating out there
ahead of this Saturday's meeting for the Republican It's entitled
Republican Committee Survey. I don't know who did it. I
don't know who's behind it. It's not your survey. But
one of the questions I thought was very interesting. No one.
I thought a lot of the questions were interesting, but
the very first question, they want to know who's the

(13:03):
leader of the Republican Party. They ask folks and they say,
is it Shelley? Is it Jim? Is it Patrick? Is
it Chris? Is it Matt Harritch. It's an interesting question
to be asking ahead of the Saturday meeting.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
What do you make of that?

Speaker 5 (13:13):
If anything, maybe I'm overthinking.

Speaker 6 (13:15):
It, Uh for sure? For sure? Right, I mean, I look,
I think you've got, you know, you do have that
old guard Republican stuff. I mean, obviously, you know, Shelly
Moore Capitol has been been a very popular US Senator.
She was in Congress, she was in the House Delegates.
You know, you've got a you know, you've got sort
of some of that new group Eastern Panhandle folks. And

(13:37):
obviously morrisy is kind of, you know, the you know,
the head of that group. You know, Justice is sort
of his own entity right in and of himself as well.
So I do think it's an interesting question. It doesn't
seem like any of them are like trying to get
control of the whole thing. I mean, you know, Justice

(13:58):
did weigh in on supporting, uh what Josh Holstein in
this in this Republican Party chair thing. You know, I
don't think I don't think anybody else has done anything
publicly on that that I've seen, but I would think so,
I mean, I know that that'd be a good question
of this. Yeah, yeah, I mean I'm sure they are.

(14:19):
You know, so I think you know, I don't know,
you know, I know you you. I don't know if
you did it on social media or something. But is
it a kind of a proxy fight in this upcoming thing?
I don't know if it, Yeah, I think it. If
it isn't already, it looks like it's gonna be that way,
you know, come the weekend. And I think that's why
you're not seeing this independent thing come up this Saturday,

(14:44):
is because who the chair is has gotten to be
a pretty big fight, right, I mean, you're you're seeing
sides the line and all that kind of thing, and
I just think that, you know, that's gonna be the
big ticket issue that will take all the air out
of the room, and that's what they'll address. And you know,
depending on who the new chair is is, you know,
will we address that independent thing later on in the

(15:05):
year or not. And like I said, I don't think
it had I think it's a mistake, but I don't
think it's a mistake that has to be corrected immediately.
But you know, I think it's a long term mistake.
I mean, heck with the whole country, right, I mean,
if you look at the whole country right now, it's
a third Republican, a third Democrat, a third Independent, and

(15:28):
that's the direction is headed in West Virginia as well.
And you know, to cut out a third of the
voters and say we don't want you to participate in ourselves.
Is is this very short sighted from my perspective.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Greg Thomas, longtime GOP strategist and consultant, Always appreciate the
insights Greg, Thank you buddy.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
All Right, hey guys, thanks for opportunity.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Got to take a break back in a moment.

Speaker 8 (15:50):
We are there for you, do care for you at
the health then we are here.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
It all started with a vision.

Speaker 8 (16:00):
We've grown alongside West Virginia, becoming part of its fabric
for over four decades. We've been here through thick and thin,
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Speaker 9 (16:18):
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Speaker 1 (17:00):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Encovia Insurance, encircling
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Speaker 2 (17:10):
Jonathan Borg going to join us after the news. We'll
talk to him. He's executive director of the West Virginia
First Foundation. We'll talk to him in just a moment.
Three or four talk three or four is the text line.
Texter says, you all acting like roads and infrastructure wins elections.

Speaker 9 (17:26):
Lol.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
We all know to win over conservatives. It's culture war issues.
The elections are one in the primary anymore, says the Texter.
Hashtag ftdr yep yep. David TJ. I think when certain
Republicans campaign against AMENDMU two, that was a great example
of wrong thinking in the Republican Party, says The Texter

(17:49):
and TJ you wrote about this. You weighed in on
this in your commentary this morning whether or not Republicans
need to revisit the open or closed primary issue.

Speaker 5 (17:58):
I think they should revisit it because, at the end
of the day, Greg said it very succinctly. Independence helped
them get where they were ten years ago, and they've
continued to help them. You don't want them now find
but there could be consequences to that. Now. Would it
be twenty six, would it be twenty eight, would it
be later?

Speaker 2 (18:15):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
But you go on social media and folks that really
talk politics bothers a lot of independence, and I suggested
there's a few things that you could do. You know,
you could try to be a spoiler, switch your party
registration for the primary and only vote for Republican candidates
that back open primaries and then go back to independent
if you want. Could stop sending checks, stop supporting packs

(18:40):
that only support or do not support candidates that back
open primaries. I mean, there are things that can be done.
Would enough people do that. I don't know, I have
no idea, but three hundred thousand people disenfranchising three hundred
thousand voters, I mean, could very well have consequence.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
If you are an unaffiliated voter. You don't want to
be a Republican, you don't want to be a Democrat,
you don't want to be a libertarian, you don't want
to be a Green Party candidate. Why should you have
a say in selecting a party's candidate.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
Because they need you in the general and they invited
you ten years ago, right or wrong? Right, you put
them where they were. Now, if independence hadn't played a
role putting them where they were, I think you'd have
a less strong argument to make. And that's a'sen's what
I'm writing. Okay, we'll pull your support and see what happens.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Well, they're going to support somebody in the general. They're
going to support somebody in the general, and you're going
to go to the booth and you're either going to
hold your nose and vote for one candidate or the other.
And if if the thinking is most in pulling indicates
that most independents do lean conservative, they do lean to
the right, are you going to go in November and
pull the lever. I know there's no levers anymore, but

(19:50):
you're going to pull the lever for the Democrat or
the Republican. Well, the Republican's gamble is you're still going
to vote Republican in November.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
And maybe you should hold your nose not do that.
Find them my a Democrat that you like for a cycle, well,
wherewithal for a libertarian?

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Who's the moderate Democrat?

Speaker 5 (20:05):
I don't know. The Democratic Party continues to for a
Lictarian right somebody else. I don't care. I'm just saying
these are options that you could undertake. And if I've
learned anything from politics, especially over the last five years,
last ten years, anything can happen, anything can happen. We're

(20:25):
at that point.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Greg is correct. The long term, you're you're going both
parties are going to need to woo independence and figure
out how to do that correctly because independence are continuing
to grow. If you want to be part of selecting
a party's candidate, join the party, it's pretty simple.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
They won't do that.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Well, then you don't get to be part of the process.
That's I don't buy this. I want to have my
cake and eat it. To type of argument where I
don't want to be a part of a party, but
I want to select that party's candidate. Well, be part
of the party. If you don't like the direction that
party is going, you can change it by working, by
being part of it.

Speaker 5 (21:00):
But if the money cuts off and the votes cut off,
they'll change their mind, they'll come back. You can't win,
That's what I'm getting at. It's just a matter of
how long it will take to get enough people upset
enough to actually want to do something. Well, that could
be thirty years, well, I mean it could be thirty,
could be two. I agree with you, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Coming up, gonna talk to Jonathan Board. He is executive
director of the West Virginia First Foundation. How are counties
spending opioid money that has been doled out to them.
We'll get into that discussion a little bit later. We'll
talk about the TVT Best Virginia advancing on to the
quarter final of the national Quarterfinals in the basketball Tournament.
More of your thoughts at three h four Talk three four,

(21:39):
eight hundred and seven to sixty five talks the phone number.
This is talk Line on Metro News, the Voice of
West Virginia. It is ten thirty time to get a
news update. Let's check in with the Metro News radio
network find out what's happening across the great state of
West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Jeff Jenkins. Ohio and Marion
County is now part of a disaster declaration in connection
with the Father's Day weekend floods. The declaration means flood
victims can apply for individual assistance through FEMA, and there
are three ways to do so one eight hundred sixty
to one FEMA Disaster Assistance dot gov or by downloading
the FEMA app. Sentencing scheduled this afternoon in Jefferson County

(22:17):
Circuit Court in the case of forty seven year old
David Calderon, the El Salvadoran national, pleading guilty earlier this
month in the May twenty twenty four death of Jefferson
County resident Samantha Daily, her body found with a burned
out couch. Calderoan pleaded guilty to first degree murder with mercy.
Sentencing scheduled in Charlestown at one this afternoon. A State
Police trooper says there were some tense moments at Sharp

(22:38):
Mental Hospital and Weston earlier this week when a patient
made threats several threats and then grabbed a long boat
out of a machine and began threatening staff and other patients.
Trooper First Class Ryan Watson says the investigation into the
actions of twenty seven year old Brandon mcgoy began Monday
after he made a bomb threat phone call.

Speaker 10 (22:56):
Just continue to sporrow out of control of the rest
of the day. Over the next few hours. He called
in multiple different times, and every time he would call in,
the threats just kept going on and on and on.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
Mcgory was arrest of these being held in the Central
Regional Jail. There are no injuries. A third man has
been arrested out connection with a beating near Ritter Park
in Huntington. This man I leisurely filmed it and put
it on social media. You're listening to Metro News, the
Voice of West Virginia.

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(24:13):
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Speaker 1 (24:20):
Dott All veterans are eligible for the typer amount of
benefits mentioned here.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
A big court hearing tomorrow and Raleigh County Circuit Court
when it comes to the state's compulsory childhood vaccination requirements
for school entry. A Raleigh County mother is challenging the
state law, wanting a religious exemption provided by an executive
order from Governor Patrick Morrissey State Board of Education says
that the current state law should stay in place. Meanwhile,
there's a court hearing today in connection with another vaccination case,

(24:46):
this one in Kanawha County. We'll cover that at the
website later. From the Metro News anchor desk, I'm Jeff Jenkins.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Text line three oh four, Talk three four and the
phone numbers eight hundred and seven to sixty five Talk.
Coming up next segment, Lou Vargo will join us Ohio
County Emergency Management Director individual FEMA assistants approved late yesterday
afternoon by the White House. We'll talk to Lou about
that and get an update on the flood recovery efforts
in the northern Panhandle. Last week, the West Virginia First

(25:32):
Foundation released a report on spending opioid settlement funds that
have been distributed to counties across West Virginia. Friend of
the program over at West Virginia Watch, Katie Coin did
a very detailed follow up article breaking down how that
money is being spent so far. Joining us here on

(25:52):
Metro News talk Line this morning is the executive director
of the West Virginia First Foundation, Jonathan Boord. Jonathan, Good morning.

Speaker 14 (26:00):
Morning, Good to be with you today.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Glad you could join us, so, Jonathan, last week you
released the report about seventy two point eight million dollars
in opioid settlement funds were dispersed to local governments across
the state. They reported back on how they spent that money.
A lot of it seemed to go to law enforcements,
a lot of it was used for jail bills. Obviously

(26:23):
it was all within the parameters of how that money
was supposed to be spent, allowed to be spent. But
are you satisfied with how the money is being used
so far?

Speaker 14 (26:34):
Yeah, so really important work that we do here in
the state of West Virginia. The West Virginia First Foundation
obviously does not control that spend, but we are one
of those unique opportunities for us to join you all
as journalists in it's then so that we are reporting

(26:54):
what was done and it was really comprehensive report. Really
proud of the work that we were able to do
in a relatively short period of time. We became operational
last May and got that report out, and you.

Speaker 15 (27:10):
Know, it's unique.

Speaker 14 (27:11):
It shows a lot of interesting spends. Again, we can't
we're one of three buckets, right, we all pull from
the Qualified Settlement Fund, which is its own entity, and
we're all under the same memorandum of understanding with their
approved uses. County commissions and local governance have some additional

(27:31):
opportunities to spend those dollars and we saw that represented
in this report.

Speaker 5 (27:37):
Jonathan, Let's dive into some of the specifics from Katie's report.
Thirty nine thousand was spent by five local governments Granville, Hinton, Louisbourg, Richwood, Oceania.
That was on new firearms and AMMO for police. There
were moneies spent in Monroe County towards the Jail Reimbursement
Fund that was about one hundred and seventy seven thousand,

(28:00):
thirty four thousand spend on training police officers. Nearly all
of that spending was by Jackson County to purchase land
for a law enforcement training center. I'm not saying that's
good or bad, but does that help us recover from
the opioid epidemic? I mean, how does it?

Speaker 7 (28:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 14 (28:15):
Right, So, when you look across the country, what we've
seen is there's a lot of different approaches to this,
and I know we as a foundation look at the
entirety of the continuum of care. We want to support recovery,
true meaningful recovery, from really prevention all the way through

(28:36):
to recovery and re entry, and so that is our focus. Certainly,
the local governments are permitted under the MoU and it's
important to note the plaintiffs in this mass litigation that
existed for well over a decade, spanned multiple folks and
multiple administrations. The plaintiffs in those cas were the local governments.

(29:01):
They were the county commissions and the additional residents of
the state of West Virginia, and they developed these approved uses.
All of this obviously outside of our work, and so
within that it's our understanding that some of these expenses
certainly fall within those approved uses. The Foundation may look

(29:25):
at these things differently and may want to do focus
on things that we see successful across the country, but
it's sometimes it's well, it's like working with parents. It's
dangerous for us from a distance to tell other parents
how to raise their children. We want to focus on
things that we know work. The reporting that was done

(29:49):
and by all means, I do want to give a
lot of credit across the country. Only twelve states have
committed to doing a report like this of those twelve,
only seven actually were found in compliance, and of that
only sixty percent reported full coverage. West Virginia First Foundation

(30:09):
in this report is at this point I'm looking at
the numbers, We're over ninety percent in compliance. That is
not only extraordinary, that's nation leading. So I give a
lot of credit to folks, whether they like those spins
or not, for reporting those spins, and certainly we applaud
that effort.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Hey, Jonathan, is this money that was dispersed through the
foundation or is this money that was already owed the
counties through the settlement.

Speaker 14 (30:36):
Anyway, Yeah, this goes straight to the county that does
not come from the West Virginia First Foundation. There are
three large buckets. One goes to the West Virginia First Foundation,
another goes directly to the counties and municipalities, and a
small percentage goes to the West Virginia Attorney General, which
is just really forgoing litigation maintenance. And so we do

(31:00):
not touch these monies.

Speaker 16 (31:02):
Obviously.

Speaker 14 (31:02):
That goes from the qualified Settlement Fund right down to
those local governments.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
And I know even since this report, you know, Montague
County had reported that hadn't spent it's a share, Yeah,
I know that's since approved some grants through that fundings, Jonathan,
So as we move forward, how has the foundation developed
criteria for dispersing opioid settlement funds and how will that
be used to evaluate proposals in the future.

Speaker 14 (31:29):
Right, So, we just announced that our next funding cycle
will launch in September of this year. And if you
recall last year, we're doing some of this focusing on
best practices across the country. We are going to develop
really a nation leading and our goal is world leading
needs assessment that will drive these these goals. We want

(31:50):
to focus on evidence based practice with really important, vitally
important that we focus on outcomes based work. And so
last year with the initial Opportunity grant, we focused on
diversion programs, youth prevention, cloud advocacy, and traditional recovery housing.
And we're going to have some analysis of that. We

(32:10):
had really good parody across the state across all six regions.
But we want to dial in and really focus on
what is successful, what truly heals and ultimately changes the
trajectory of this state from the inside out.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
I'm looking at the report back to that Cable County
two hundred thousand de Lilly's Place and what they do there,
it's recovery and treatment for mother's rehabit, et cetera. They
do a wonderful job. I'm thinking through this, Jonathan. You know,
counties may struggle. Because Cable County already had that center
to put the money into. Some counties may not have

(32:48):
an existing facility or an existing plan to be able
to put that money into. They may struggle. They may
not have the resources. So some of these counties may
have to spend the money anyway that they can. Also
wondering if they come back to you and ask for help,
be you being the foundation saying how do we spend
this money? Can you help us figure out what's best?
I mean, is that something you're doing. Are you regularly

(33:10):
talking with these folks about their bucket of money that
goes directly to them?

Speaker 14 (33:15):
Absolutely? There are service area deserts across this state. You
point out an area service that focuses on families. West
Virginia leads the country in neonatal abstinin syndrome, right children
born basically addicted. So we're so thankful. You're right, we

(33:38):
need to focus on that. In fact, we in this process,
we had multiple training sessions. We had multiple reach outs,
and I will tell you too, to some of these
municipalities there was some turnover. We talked with one group
that had lost their mayor and their clerk. I talked
with another who was struggling just to open a bank

(33:59):
accou they didn't have a clerk and the bank wouldn't
allow them to open an account. So some of this
is some early kind of almost baby steps. Remember these
our twenty twenty three twenty twenty four spinds. We only
became operational in twenty four, so this was preceding us.
So there's some work going on here. But as to

(34:20):
reaching out, we're doing some trainings, we have some best practices.
In fact, I want to applaud Attorney General, who we're
working closely with to create Again, because of the structure
of this mass litigation, we can't dictate how a spend
is done, but certainly we can provide some opportunities and
identify those things that are successful here in West Virginia

(34:43):
and across the state across the country too.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
John and Jonathan Board, executive director of the West Virginia
at First Foundation, have we had some early successes with
the distribution of the money and being put toward recovery efforts,
rehab efforts.

Speaker 14 (35:00):
We have just had a privilege of attending Diction Conference
yesterday down at Canane and was able to interact with
several folks who have expanded their services, broadened their services,
hired new peer recovery. Got to meet with some of those.
I spoke with folks earlier in the week who had

(35:22):
a ribbon cutting out in the Wood County area of
a brand new facility and expanding services focusing on child advocacy.
These are the things that we're starting to see and
if you look nationally, West Virginia has the highest reduction
of overdose rate in America. That is astounding. That is

(35:45):
something that we can truly celebrate and it's a turning
of the tide. Now, let's not get complacent. There are
still areas and communities in West Virginia where addiction rates
have plateaued in very limited instances. There are several communities
it's actually gone up. So the work is still before us.
But there is true light here and this is the

(36:06):
tip of the spear, and we really celebrate the work
of our partners across the state. We funded almost one
hundred folks already seventeen a little over seventeen million going out.
We've got another twenty million going out in September announcement
for that, and then we have direct funding around twenty
million committed there. So we are moving forward with haste,

(36:29):
but we're balancing that effort. Listen, we cannot commit intergenerational theft.

Speaker 9 (36:34):
Right.

Speaker 14 (36:34):
A lot of people talk about this fund. We're not
sitting on one point two billion that's coming in over
the course of over a decade. But that which we
have we have to be very mindful of and we
have to balance the day's known needs with tomorrow's unknown needs.
The drug trade isn't going away. We have to be
really smart and have the highest fiduciary for these dollars,

(36:58):
which absolute is blood money and so we need to
respect those that earned this and use it very wisely.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Jonathan Board, Executive Director, West Virginia First Foundation, Jonathan, appreciate
the update.

Speaker 9 (37:11):
Thank you, good to talk with you.

Speaker 7 (37:13):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Absolutely. We'll get an update from the Northern Panhandle on
flood recovery efforts. That FEMA disaster declaration finally coming from
the White House yesterday afternoon. More talk line from the
and Cove Insurance studios.

Speaker 17 (37:24):
A lot of attention has been directed towards something President
Trump calls clean, beautiful coal. That phrase often describes the
clean burning aspect of West Virginia coal, but there is
another type of coal, metallurgical coal, which is used to
make the steel our economy depends on, and West Virginia
has some of the highest quality met coal in the world.

(37:45):
West Virginia coal miners produce more met coal than any
other state, and seventy percent of all steel makers in
the United States rely on West Virginia met coal. This
accounts for two hundred billion dollars in economic impact throughout
the country and helps sustain over a half billion jobs.
As President Trump reinvigorates our economy, he will need a
lot of our high quality met coal. So the West

(38:08):
Virginia Coal Association asked you to join with them to recognize,
honor and salute our West Virginia coal miners. They built
this country and will play a vital role in rebuilding
the economy that will power the twenty first century. A
message from the Friends of Coal.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Metro News talk line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling
Visitancova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
Still have nats in the studio. If you're watching the
video stream this morning, I'm not just flailing about randomly.
Sure there's another one.

Speaker 5 (38:57):
Hey, I'm coming up tomorrow. I'm gonna start up. I'm
gonna get a bomb or something. Yeah, let's take care of.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yesterday afternoon, Governor Morrissey announcing the President Trump had approved
individual assistance for flood victims in Ohio and Marion Counties,
which were hit hard by the Father's Day weekend floods.
Nine people were killed in Ohio County, hundreds of buildings affected,
their seventy vehicles had to be pulled from the water,

(39:26):
and north of one hundred and fifty homes were damaged.
Joining us from Ohio County is Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo. Lou,
good morning, glad you can join us.

Speaker 16 (39:36):
Good morning, pleasure to be here with you.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
How relieved were you to hear the announcement yesterday that
those federal dollars would be now made available?

Speaker 16 (39:46):
Extremely? I mean, this is listening, This is just a
shot an arm for these people. You know, seveny lives
had been disrupted. I mean, you just with the nine
tragic fatalities we had. But you know, third seven houses
that were just totally destroyed, over two hundred houses that
are the seem that uh considers major damage, and then

(40:09):
another term of fifty houses with minor damage. So, uh,
we still have a lot of people living in different
temporary housing. We have people living still in hotels, you know,
a family and a hotel, and that's fine for vacations,
but you know, to be living out of the hotel rooms,
I think, so, you know, Uh, it's just great needs

(40:30):
that we could get you know, get them rebuilt, get
them through the recovery process, and get them home and
you know, go back to some type of.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
Normal life early days, certainly, lou. But any idea on
the allocation process, how much of that money will come
to Ohio County, what people can and cannot use it
for any guidance there yet, Well.

Speaker 16 (40:50):
No, not yet, because like you said earlier, this is
between marian and Ohio County. You know, we're not sure
exactly we're waiting for. And now that the President did
declare female will hopefully we're working closely with the Western
Regime or just Management Division or start as she's been

(41:12):
here I've been in contact. You know, Uh, we have
plans for a disaster relief center, but then just getting
the whole details of the decoration because in addition to
individual system when we are all so award to public
assistance too, so we have to look out you know,
that all breaks out and you know the requirements of

(41:35):
what's eligible. You know, somebody wondering, like you mentioned that
we had about eighty vehicles that were brought out of
the cliques. Uh, you know, it's not going to be covered.
And what I've just been telling everybody is with you know,
when you go in, these are the people who are
going to come in and they're going to know the
the requirements of the grant processes. They're going to know

(41:56):
what's eligible an audiology, ineligible, and just apply for everything
and then you know they'll make those final decisions.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
Lou Vargo is joining us Ohio County Director of Emergency Management. Lou,
it's been a little more than a month since those
floods hit. We mentioned the nine people who were tragically killed,
one hundred and fifty homes. Where are you in the
cleanup and recovery process at this point, Well.

Speaker 16 (42:22):
The major debris, you know, the flood debris. Uh, the
National Guard has been a bigger access the West Virginia
Department of Highways. They brought in crews from three other
districts that you know, they rose do a great job
and moved all the flood debrises. There's just you know,
hundreds of tons of debris you know, tree branches, regular

(42:43):
debris and things like that that were just along people's
property and that's been removed. Some of the buildings have
been removed that you know, we're literally just destroyed in
pieces right now. Most of all that's been removed. But
the houses that have the major damage where they have
to take our drywall and things like that, that's still

(43:04):
going on. But and again now that you know, when
femals coming in, you know, they should have more access
to their future of you know, what's going to be
a reimburse versus what they're gonna have to pay for.
But so in our recovery process again most of the debris,
but you know, as families come in, we have nonprofit

(43:26):
groups to come in, church groups come in who are
helping these people, you know, so to remove an insulation
so to breed piles up every now and that so
we're making arrangements to have that removed.

Speaker 5 (43:37):
I was going to ask you about resources. It can
be tough in the best of times to find contractors
other folks to be able to do work. What are
you hearing from folks that are trying to find those resources.
Are the church groups enough for people struggling to get
the help the help they need just from a skilled
labor perspective.

Speaker 16 (43:55):
Well, it's a combination. But what's just an overwhelming is
just a response we had, especially over the first couple
of weeks of volunteer groups coming in. We developed through
the county a website called it is the Flood where
people could go on. They could say, Hey, I need

(44:16):
help removing stuff on my basement, or we need a
new water heater, or I need help just with anything,
or we need clothes, I have a child who needs
X a lot of things. And through all the churches,
the volunteer organization, volunteer of o AD, who's just been

(44:38):
wonderful with our United Way, our community foundation here has
just really pulled together and you know, has really helped
Tony and I with this recovery because we could have
done it without him. And so there's been a quite support.
Different organizations have come in, we have more coming in.
We have another group coming in September. You might have

(44:59):
seen that, uh over on Sunday, vigous places that's been
associated with American Red Cross came in. They weren't trying
to outfare to some people affect with the flood. They
were able to do some counseling with them and give
them some financial assistance. So just a response of just
great people not only here in the panhand or up

(45:25):
for a high valley, but uh, resources coming is throughout,
you know, throughout the country has just been overwhelming monetary
donations from all over. It's just it's just amazing and response.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
We bet Lou Vargo, Ohio County Emergency Management Director, Lou
appreciate the update. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 16 (45:44):
Okay, Dave, any kind of thank you appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
We'll wrap up our number one in a moment.

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Speaker 2 (46:33):
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(46:55):
The Powerball jackpot is three hundred twenty five million dollars.
The Mega Millions jackpot is one hundred twenty million dollars,
So go ahead play today. Coming up after the top
of the hour break, we're going to talk to doctor
James Moore. He's presidents of West Virginia wesley In College.
He's gonna be sticking around a while. We'll explain. Coming

(47:15):
up six minutes from now, Brad McElhenny will stop by
as well. This is talk Final Metro News, the voice
of West Virginia.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Metro News. Talk Line is presented by Incovia Insurance, encircling
Visit incova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Metro News talk line already in progress. Gangs all here,
TJ and Charleston, Zach Carroll Chick in the video production suite,
and Sophia wassek Our audio producer. Today eight hundred and
seven to sixty five. Talk the phone number three or
four Talk three oh four. That is your way to
participate today tomorrow at this time. You don't want to

(48:00):
join us, it'll be a special edition. We don't do
these very often. But doctor Michael Benson, new president at
wdvu's going to join us here at the Miller Building.
He'll be in studio for the entire hour tomorrow, so
we'll be able to go deep on his background career,
what he thinks the future may hold, Why he's going

(48:23):
in the wrong direction. He's going from Myrtle Beach to Morgantown.
You go the other way. We'll talk about that all
coming up. Doctor Michael Benson joining us in studio. TJ
will be up here as well. We'll just we'll have
a pizza party tomorrow here in the studios.

Speaker 5 (48:37):
We'll bring a can of raid as well. As I
hear Benson is a heck of a water skier.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
Really.

Speaker 5 (48:43):
I saw something on social media, Hey, dude was tearing
it up, Dave, I got to tell you, I'm watching
the ninety second West Virginia Open Championship from Sleepy Hollow
Golf Club a hurricane. Chris Williams of scott Depot through eight.
He's five under. I mean, dude is tearing it up.
He's got three birdies an eagle. He's only on eight.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
That sounds like TJ. Meadows type play there o, Man,
I wish have you ever played like a sanctioned tournament.
I'm sure you played in scrambles and stuff like that,
but any any serious competitive golf.

Speaker 5 (49:17):
And I'm not I'm not good enough to. Did you
watch any of them?

Speaker 2 (49:20):
Did you watch the Open Championship while you're on vacation.

Speaker 5 (49:24):
I was too busy with all the kids' activities that
I was still sleeping when I could. I watched clips
on on YouTube and everything. And after the fact, Scottie, Yeah,
you know, happy, happy for that guy, But no, I
wish I were that good.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
Now.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Neighbor of mine, Christian Brand, Oh yeah, he lives in
same neighborhood and I do. I mean that guy, He'll
be walking in the neighborhood. He'll see me out the
front yard swinging a club and he'll just be like, oh, Brody,
A long way to go.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
By the way, Joe Bricado will be covering that event
a little bit later this week. He'll join us later
on this hour actually bottom of the hour as Best
Virginia moving on to the national quarterfinals. In the TBT,
We've got highlights recap at wv metronews dot com. Western
New Wesleyan at College, doctor James Moore is the president's

(50:15):
in buck Cannon, and he's going to be sticking around
for a while. The Western new Wesleyan College Board of
Trustees announcing this morning that it recently voted to extend
the contract of doctor James Moore through June thirtieth, twenty
thirty two, a move affirming the institution's confidence in his
leadership and vision for the college's future that according to

(50:36):
a release from Western New Wesleyan, Kevin Spear, chairperson of
the Board of Trustee, says, this renewal reflects our deep
confidence in doctor Moore's ability to continue to elevate our college,
strengthen its academic programs, and further its ongoing mission of
excellence and serving the needs of our region. Joining us
on Metro News talk Line. Is the president of West

(50:59):
Virginia Wesleyan College is going to be sticking around for
a while, Doctor James some more, doctor more, Good morning, Good.

Speaker 7 (51:05):
Morning, gentlemen. Thanks so much for taking the time to
talk to me today. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Well, thanks for coming on. Congratulations, Well, thank you so much.

Speaker 7 (51:14):
You know, as a lot of people would know, I've
been at Wesleyan since two thousand and six, when I
was hired as a very young music professor, So this
has always been home and it's really humbling to have
this mote confidence from the board. But I have to say,
I think it's a reflection of the great work that's
always happened at our college and that I know will
continue to happen. So it ain't about me. It's really

(51:35):
about the work that we've always done at this college
for the last one hundred and thirty five years. If
I could try to cast it in a slightly larger light.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
We'll get to the future vision in a moment. But
during your tenure, what sticks out to you as the
really big accomplishments that you're most proud of.

Speaker 7 (51:55):
Thanks for the question, Dave. Partnerships a lot of the
academic programs that we have launched in the last several years,
particularly in the allied health education space, they're the result
of deep relationships and partnerships with our community healthcare providers,
like our friends at Community Care West Virginia, at Vandelia Health,
and at WU Medicine. You know, I'm a native West

(52:17):
Virginia and we've got health outcome challenges in West Virginia
and Wesleyan's trying real hard to step up and lead
in that space. But we can't accomplish any of those
things without being great community partners. So I'm going to
hang my hat on the idea that we're willing to
listen to the needs of our state, in our region
and find partners to help solve those problems.

Speaker 5 (52:39):
DOC, you're an innovator. In talking with you, you give
me that sense I see an entrepreneurial streak in you
give me your top two, maybe even top three in
your tenure moving forward? What do you want to accomplish
ten years from now?

Speaker 7 (52:53):
Wow, I would love nothing more than for Wesleyan to
be in a position to keep continue to produce graduates
who are going to make West Virginia stronger and Apple
latcha stronger. So top of mind for me is the
idea that a small college like ours has a role
to play in elevating our state in our region because

(53:14):
West Virginia is worth investing in. So that's probably our
biggest priority over the next several years. And and parcel
to that is if you're talking to me five years
down the road and we have been able to provide
every student who comes to West Virginia Western College with
a transformative educational experience that prepares them to be lifelong learners.

(53:37):
I don't mean to sound so high minded here, but
we're pumping young people out into a very uncertain world.
So our graduates are the measure of our success. If
our graduates are successful in living lives of service ten
years down the road, then we've done our job. Those
are my top two. Help West Virginia continue to grow
because it's worth it, and make sure our graduates are

(53:57):
ready for a really uncertain future and to be lifelong learners.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
Doctor James Moore is joining us. He's presidents of West
Virginia Wesley and College, the board of trustees recently voting
to extend his contract through twenty thirty two. Doctor Moore.
I saw a story earlier this week. I think it
was one in five gen Ziers said they regretted their
decision to go to college. There are certainly some very

(54:24):
negative thoughts out there about the value of higher education,
the value of a college degree. How do you turn
that tide or how do you how do you accommodate
the next generation of students coming.

Speaker 7 (54:39):
I think we have to acknowledge why that sentiment might exist.
If I'm being honest, you know, this is a moment
of reckoning for higher education as a sector, and in
many ways I understand why. You know, I often joke
that I love college so much I never left, right,
I mean, I'm still here, But I see the value
in this, and all of us do that work in

(54:59):
higher every day. We've got to do a better job
at showing prospective students and parents why college remains the
best chance for upward financial mobility that young people have.
But there's not one right path for everybody. There is
absolutely nothing wrong with students choosing a different way to
navigate life. So I think we've got to own and

(55:23):
accept that students have more options now than ever. Why
don't we turn that tide? I think places like Wesleyan
are uniquely positioned. Look, our college is founded on and
exists on the premise that our job is to teach.
Our faculty cared deeply about teaching. I was a professor
at Wesleyan for many years. I get it, and research

(55:45):
institutions are important to our society. But we're proud to
not be a research institution and be a teaching institution.
So I think we're going to reclaim that value proposition
for higher ED. In my opinion, it starts with teaching
and really putting our dollars and our resources where our
philosophies are, making sure students are prepared for the workforce,

(56:07):
to be versatile and to be ready for change, because
you guys know as well as I do, the world
is changing much faster than any of us thought it
was going to change, right.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
I feel like it's hard to keep up. If I'm
being completely honest with you. The narrative exactly it has been, Yeah,
it is. The narrative has been out there for so long.
We educate them and they leave. We educate them and
they leave. Can academia ken for your industry really make
a change in that? Is there anything you all can
do to keep people here or is that up to

(56:36):
somebody else.

Speaker 6 (56:40):
We have got to figure that out.

Speaker 7 (56:42):
If West Virginia is going to be successful, we've got
to be a place that young people are willing to
stay in if they are coming from West Virginia and
not leave. I left for a time before I came back,
so I'm part of that exodus, but it was only
several years before it started to tuzz on my heartstrings
and made me come back. I think if higher education
is not at the table with industry and not being

(57:05):
very intentional about ensuring that in our own little corners
of West Virginia we're driving economic activity, economic growth, then
we're missing the boat. I mean, that's what young people
are looking for. I think is a vibrant community. And
also I have to say this again not to be
so high minded, but you know, we have always been

(57:26):
about lifelong learning at West Virginia Westley and College, and
we have to continue to be so. When our graduates
leave our halls, so to speak, we don't want them
to not think of us as their continued home for learning.
If they have needs moving forward in their careers, we
need to be serving those needs. It can't be a
transactional proposition where students even four years, we say good luck,

(57:49):
let us know how you're doing, and maybe write us
a check down the road. Because colleges need their alums
to be supportive, we have to constantly be engaged with
them and make sure that we're continuing to meet their
learning needs. There's no reason why college is like ours
couldn't be serving adult learners, non traditional students, a term
that I'm starting to not like because students are just students.
So the way to help the state, I think, is

(58:11):
to be about learning for all people all the time.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
You know, we're talking to doctor James Moore, president of
West Virginia. Wesleyan College got a contract extension through twenty
thirty two. You know, this is going to be more
of an observation and I'm interested to get your take,
and I'm going to pick on my alma mater for
a moment.

Speaker 13 (58:27):
Now.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Granted this is you know, twenty some years ago at
this point, but you know, doctor Moore, kids go, when
I went through college, You went through college, you got
all this training, you went through the classes, you get
your degree, and it's like, you know, the baby bird
gets kicked out of the nest. Hey, good luck, good
luck finding that job, having that connection, that partnership with industry,

(58:47):
whether it's aerospace industry, you know, with what's available up
and down the technology corridor of seventy nine, whether that
is having partnerships with law firms, whatever the case may be.
Having those partners so students have not only a course
of study, have an opportunity to earn a degree, but
there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Hey,
go through this. We've got a partnership with so and so.

(59:09):
So there is that employment opportunity, you know, helping students
actually get the job coming out of school, rather than
just going hey, like you said, congratulations, call us in
ten years and maybe cut us a check. Having those
partnerships seems like it's a critical role in today's world. Again,
more of an observation.

Speaker 7 (59:26):
I thought, sure, David, I'm starting to cut you off.
I'm really passionate about this, so I'm eager to get
in there with you. I think you're right on the money.
You know, interestingly, there's a lot of stories out there about,
you know, increasing the graduates are having a hard time
finding that first job, finding the spot that they want
coming out of college. You know, several years ago that
wasn't the case. We're not seeing that yet, and I

(59:48):
think part of that is because of the partnerships that
we've created or have had for many years in some cases.
So you're right, it's critical they've got to have some
sort of a pathway to that entry point into the workforce.
But even more importantly than that, I think are the
skills that graduates leave college with now that are so important.

Speaker 16 (01:00:06):
You know, we.

Speaker 7 (01:00:07):
Survey the heck out of our graduates, and we make
sure we retain close partnerships or close relationships with our
partners to know how our graduates are doing. Our graduates
communicate well, they can write, they communicate well orderly, They're
able to solve problems and work with people who are
different than them, and work with people in complex settings.

(01:00:28):
And you know, I'm thinking of a friend of mine
who talks about the value of a college education increasingly
is going to be making sure that people can do
the things that robots and our artificial intelligence can't do.
And that's what a college like ours has been founded
on and has continued to exist on. So it's yes,
it's about those pathways days, but it's also about making

(01:00:48):
sure they've got the skills necessary to be successful and
able to continue to grow early on in their career.
So we've been seeing our graduates continue to have that success,
and I think it's because of our size and our missions.

Speaker 19 (01:01:02):
I really believe that, Professor.

Speaker 5 (01:01:04):
I want to go back to the pandemic. It forced
us to work differently. We all had to work from home.
Some of us worked from home before that. I worked
from home, my goodness, ten or more years before the pandemic.
But it seems like employers may be pulling back on that.
So you talked about that seat at the table with industry.

(01:01:26):
I'm wondering, are you hearing anything. Is that a way
for West Virginia to move forward? We get a student here,
maybe we bring a new student in that's not from
West Virginia and they see all the natural beauty, all
the things to do. As you're at the table with industry,
is there a means to continue that telecommute movement so

(01:01:46):
somebody doesn't have to work on Wall Street. They can
work in the Gorge if they want to live there
and do their thing and they're connected. I mean, what
are you hearing when you talk to employers. Is it
out of vogue? Can it come back? Because I think
if we could import somebody with a jack or they
can have a job elsewhere but live here, it seems
like that would be one of the preferred methods, right,

(01:02:06):
Not that economic development is bad, but it's easier to
get one person and you get a couple of singles.
It adds up. You follow me? What are your thoughts there?

Speaker 7 (01:02:14):
Yeah, no, I think that's I think that's a great
question and a great thought. You know, I have to
give props to my counterpart at Marshall University. I think
I think President Smith and the program that he created
with his wife several years ago, the as send program.
It's a really innovative idea and I'd like to see
more of those kinds of ventures. You know, some of
our alums actually, particularly in the cybersecurity space. We've just

(01:02:37):
launched a new cybersecurity program, but we've got a generation
of alums that's found their way into that work just
out of our regular computer science program for years. Some
of those alums have found their way back to West
Virginia and they're teleworking for firms in DC or they're
working for startups because of the proximity we have to
DC and the FBI Center in Clarksburg. There's opportunity for

(01:02:58):
them to relo o, say, to north central West Virginia,
where they can sell their condo in Arlington, Virginia, come
over here, buy a home at a reasonable price. Still
plocket some of the money, many great quality of life
because they want to be near the outdoors. They want
that kind of change of pace. You know. I was
just with an alumn of ours last night over dinner,

(01:03:19):
somebody who graduated in the late seventies that came to
Wesleyan from New Jersey, of all places, and he was
effusive about his passion for the college and what it
did for him educationally. But he was equally enthusiastic about saying, here,
I am a kid from New Jersey, and I was
assassinated by learning how to kayak and raft down the
New River and hiking in Audra And I learned as

(01:03:42):
much doing those kinds of activities as I did in
the classroom. And by the way his kids professors connected
him to those experiences. So I think colleges have to
make sure we're connecting students to the soil and the
soul of West Virginia, whether they're West Virginians or not.
I mean, it was one of the things that brought
me back as a love for the outdoors, a love

(01:04:02):
for the values our of our state, that work ethic,
that passion for helping your neighbor. We've got to connect
students to that because that's that's something that not every
state have going for them.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Doctor James Moore, President at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She's
going to be sticking around. Got a contract extension through
twenty thirty two. Again, congratulations, always enjoy the conversation. Thanks
for joining us.

Speaker 7 (01:04:27):
Thank you, johnmen. We appreciate you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Have a great day you as well. We'll take a
break back for more. Three or four Talk three or
four is the text line eight hundred and seven to
sixty five eight two five five. It's talk line from
the Encode Insurance Studios.

Speaker 20 (01:04:38):
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place to play. Endless indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities, including
the Bridge Sport Complex, coupled with a dynamic food scene,
make Bridgeport the perfect getaway destination for couples and families.
Explore unique shopping and pick from a wealth of lodging
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(01:04:59):
heart of West Virginia in Bridgeport. Learn more about all
there is to do at Greater Dash Bridgeport dot com.

Speaker 9 (01:05:05):
The free Metro News TV app is the place to
watch the voice of West Virginia. See talk Line with
Dave and TJ, Sports Line with Tony Coreedy, three Guys
before the Game and coming soon, the Morning News, Metro
News Middays, and Hotline with Day Weekly right on your
smart TV or streaming device. Get the Metro News Television
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(01:05:27):
News Television is powered by Dan cavigmc Comart, Loue Wyndel Marine,
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Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
Text Line three or four Talk three of four. Joe
Bercado going to join us a couple of minutes from now,
Best Virginia moving on to the National Quarterfinals which we
played in Charleston next week. Texas says doctor Moore makes
a great point, Folks from Virginia. Metroplex moved to West
Virginia for a change of pace in a different scenery,
It reminds me of my friends from New Jersey constantly

(01:06:16):
reminding me they are removing more and more roundabouts from
that state. West Virginia is always behind, just like w
canceling the party school look. Enrollment has been in decline
ever since. But again, roundabouts when people were trying to
move away from them, is definitely in the realm of
what West Virginia does best. I applaud you for bringing
that around to roundabouts. Well done, Well done on pro roundabouts. Okay,

(01:06:43):
I was not ready for more school after high school graduation.
I enlisted in the military in nineteen ninety nine and
retired in twenty nineteen. Moved back to Wyoming County and
work remotely. I completed my bachelor's degree in twenty seventeen,
which allowed me to utilize my experience in the military
and degree to land one hundred and twenty thousand dollars
remote working position supporting the USDA out of d C.

(01:07:06):
I wish West Virginia would recruit more remote workers to
southern West Virginia. Well, they're trying it, and he mentioned
the sin West Virginia program, which I think is great
and I love this idea and I think it fits
into the next generation gen Zer's attitude toward work. They're
much more work life balanced. They much more value their

(01:07:27):
recreation time. And that that fits that mold, Yes, come here,
work here, and then go go kayak, go climb them mountain,
go up on a Cooper's rock, go, you know, do
those things and be able to work remotely. And that
to send program, you know, pays people to come here.
It's a we haven't talked about it in a while,
but it's by all accounts, been very successful so far.

(01:07:50):
I'm all for it.

Speaker 5 (01:07:51):
It would be a worthy conversation about taking some of
our economic development dollars. I'm not saying, you know, we
hamper the program that the Development Office runs. They do
a great job. I think it would be a worthy conversation, though,
about taking more of those dollars and doubling down, tripling
down on that program.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
Another roundabout text of come rolling him. God save the roundabouts,
God save all the rounded routs. Bring more roundabouts to
eliminate stop signs, says the Texter. All right, coming up
after the news, Joe Bricado will join us. Best Virginia
won the regional championship last night, defeating Elite Nation in

(01:08:31):
the TBT Best Virginia is moving on to the national
quarterfinals that's going to be played in Charleston. We'll get
a recap from Joe coming up. Also, Brad McIlhenny will
stop by. Brad. We'll be covering a couple of court
hearings later today involving vaccinations. Yes, yes, vaccinations will get
their first day in court. Then there will be another

(01:08:53):
one tomorrow, and then there will be more coming down
the road. So we'll talk to Brad macwhen you find
out what that's all about before we clear at noon
o'clock later today, eight hundred and seven to six y
five Talk and three or four Talk three four Talk
Linel Metro News the Voice of West Virginia. It is
eleven thirty times to get a news update. Let's check
in with the Metro News radio network. Find out what's

(01:09:15):
happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 19 (01:09:18):
West Virginia Metro Neews. I'm Chris Lawrence. More problems today
on one of the busiest interstate bridges in West Virginia.
The DOAH reports another hole is formed in the bridge
deck of the Eugene Carter Memorial Bridge in Charleston, the
span that carries IGH sixty four across the Kanar River.
That hole, about three by three feet, is in the
westbound fast lane. Second time DAH has been forced to

(01:09:39):
make emergency repairs this month. Although the hole is in
those westbound lanes, that law still close the fast lane
eastbound will allow for a boom truck to get in
there and work. They're hoping to have it all back
open and fixed by five o'clock. Governor Patrick Morrison has
announced that President Donald Trump has approved individual assistance for
flood victims in Ohio and Marian Counties.

Speaker 21 (01:10:00):
The disaster declaration comes over a month after the two
counties were devastated by flooding and Ohio County nine residents died,
seven being from the community of Tri Delphia near Wheeling.
Individual assistants will allow affected residents to get federal aid
for their damaged homes and properties that includes private bridges, roads,
even funeral expenses and more. Around seventy vehicles were pulled

(01:10:22):
from the floodwaters in mid June. Thirty seven homes were
destroyed in Ohio County alone, with far more than one
hundred others taking on damage. I'm Aaron Parker, WV Metronews
dot com.

Speaker 19 (01:10:32):
Now victims can get assistance in one of three ways
called one one hundred and sixty to two to one FEMA.
Go to Disaster Assistance dot gov online or download the
FEMA app to your smartphone. You're listening to Matronews, the
Voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 22 (01:10:45):
Hi, I'm Josh Strand, Safety Coordinator for Civil and Environmental Consultants.
Some companies talk about profit first, but at CC we
put safety first. It's not just a slogan, it's how
we live. We invest in top notch safety gear in
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I like knowing that at CEC, my safety matters. So
why settle for less when you can work where safety
truly comes first. At CEC, we engineer progress in the

(01:11:09):
great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 23 (01:11:10):
Find out what CEC can do for you visit CECI
inc dot com.

Speaker 24 (01:11:15):
When we think about substance use disorder in West Virginia,
we need everyone to come together and motivate change. Artists
and recovery activists throughout the state have teamed up to
paint murals that inspire hard conversations. It may seem small,
but everyone played a role in breaking through stigma and
turning these murals into something vibrant and meaningful. When it

(01:11:37):
comes to how we think about recovery, it takes all
of us to break through addiction. Learn more at back
to Life wv dot org.

Speaker 19 (01:11:45):
How Black Empower and Wheeling Power will have their service
reliability reviewed by an independent audit. That review comes after
an agreement with the State Public Service Commission. The PSC
says it's gotten a number of complaints from customers about
the number of power outages happening on these few systems
and how long it's to get them restored. And this morning,
the motorist is recovering from injuries suffered when they struck
a parked vehicle on the shoulder of I seventy nine

(01:12:07):
in Kanawhak County. Happened in the man Shoals exit and
the parked vehicle was a Knawah County Sheriff's Department cruiser.
From the Metro News anchor desk, I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
TBT Regional Championships last night, Best Virginia got a second
half surge to beat Elite Nation seventy nine sixty eight.
Mentro News Sports, Joe Bracado was in the Charleston Coliseum.
He joins us on Metro News talk line, Joe, good morning, Buddy,
Good morning, gentlemen. What was the key to Best Virginia's
victory last night?

Speaker 4 (01:13:06):
I think defensively in the second half, they really did
tighten up on getting a lot of the good looks
that Elite Nation was able to get in the first
half from beyond three point range. Defensively in the second
half and ultimately in the elam ending, Best Virginia played
lockdown defense on the perimeter. And you know, if you've
watching a basketball game and you think a team can't

(01:13:27):
keep shooting this well from three point range for the
entire game, and ultimately that did happen for Best Virginia.
They were able to tighten up their defense against the
Elite Nation in the second half and they're moving on
now to.

Speaker 7 (01:13:39):
The quarter final round.

Speaker 5 (01:13:41):
Who they got next, Joe shell.

Speaker 4 (01:13:44):
Shock, which, if the name suggests, is the Maryland alumni team.
That regional that they were competing in last night was
going on at the same time as Best Virginia's regional,
so it'll be the Maryland alumni team against WU alumni team.
Best Virginia Monday, six pm back inside of the Coliseum
and Convention Center for spot of the tvt SEMIS.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
Joe, Kyle Wiggs and I we're talking about this this morning,
and you mentioned the defense that feels like the key.
I thought that defense wore down the du Bois Dream
in the opening round. I really thought it wore out.
Heard that in the regional semi final there, and you
mentioned it again in this Regional championship game with Elite Nation.

(01:14:24):
That defense just grinds on you, and eventually it grinds
on you to the point those jump shots quit falling
if you're the other team.

Speaker 15 (01:14:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:14:32):
And there's a couple of guys that we've seen come
through the state at different schools, Teajoran Johnson and Jared West,
a couple of guards that are really really strong defensively.
That's where they really made their names at WVU and Marshall, respectively.
And you know, both of those guys being able to
get out and extend on defense for the majority of

(01:14:53):
the game. I think, you know, you can sense a
little bit of frustration with some of the Elite Nation
shooters that the looks that they were in the second
half when they made I think ten of their first
four team from beyond the arc, those looks just weren't there.
Late in the game, they had to try to go
inside a little bit and on the interior best Virginia's
defense stood tall. So you know, despite the fact that

(01:15:13):
they that best Virginia fell behind by twelve points in
the second quarter and then twelve points again early in
the third quarter, their defense really stood tall when they
needed to.

Speaker 5 (01:15:23):
I've asked a few of our experts, Joe, and you
are certainly one, so I'll ask you the same question.
Are you pro elam ending? Do you like it?

Speaker 7 (01:15:32):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:15:32):
Absolutely, no question about it. It's it's a novelty, but
we've seen it enough now covering the TVT since what
twenty nineteen, that you know, the novelty is kind of
worn off, and it really does make sense in being
able to have an end of game product that resembles
what you see in the first you know, three quarters

(01:15:53):
of a game or the first you know half of
the game where you don't have and I know Brad
Howe uses this phrase the endless parade the free throw
line in the final minutes, but you know, you have
to score to win. And I think that's what makes
you know a compelling finish. You always have a walk
off winner, sometimes like it was for Bester Kenya in
the opening game against a Boys dream to get that

(01:16:15):
with Tobyocanni taking a pair of free throws to win it.
Last night it's James Reese with a bowt line jumper
to the end of the game. I think it's it's
something that I can understand. Maybe it's some of the
lower levels or some of the amateur levels of play
that you might not it may not necessarily adapt, but
I think for this particular competition, I think it blends
in perfectly.

Speaker 2 (01:16:36):
Talking to Joe Bricatto inted in sports, it brings a
little element of baseball into basketball, Joe. As you know, baseball,
you can get a ten run lead, but you still
got to get the outs. There's no clock, so it
brings that element you can't you just can't relax. And
we talked to Brad Howe earlier this week. If you're
the team that's trailing going into that ending, the pressure's

(01:16:57):
not on you. The pressure's on the other team that
has the lead to score though four buckets or you know,
three buckets that you may need.

Speaker 4 (01:17:04):
But I think, like I said, you know, you still
have to play the same game that you're playing in
the opening stages of the game, where the goal of
every possession is to get a good shot and score
a basket. And a lot of times what we see, uh,
you know, at the NBA or at the college level,
or really any level of basketball, is if you're in

(01:17:25):
the lead in the final minute, the goal is just
to hold out of the ball, play keep away. And
you know, I don't want to get into a discussion
about high school shot clock because that could take the
rest of the show. But you know, the goal, the
goal is still uh in this tvt when you have
the elam and you have to find a way to
score a basket. And I think that's a very attractive
way to do it. And and look, TPT does a

(01:17:46):
phenomenal job on all of their social media channels and
you know, the various different new media ways that they
put their content out there. When you have every single
game ends in a walk off at some way, just
like you did with the Wichita State alumni team last
night and the guys going into the crowd, it provides

(01:18:09):
great video, great content that's shareable and interesting. It really
gets the message out there to a lot of new,
new and younger viewers of the product.

Speaker 2 (01:18:19):
You got to be covering some golf this week.

Speaker 4 (01:18:22):
I will be at the West Virginia Open Friday for
the final round. That's at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Club
in Hurricane. A great event looking forward to. We had
on Sunday Sports Long we had Chris Slack, the executive
director of the Westervigonia Golf Association, and he was actually
out serving the course at the time. And it's a
great event because you get the top pros and the
top amateurs. It's like a reunion of sorts where you

(01:18:44):
get all the best of the best in Wes Virginia
golf and they're competing against each other. First round is today,
they'll cut the field in half after tomorrow's second round,
and then the championship is for the final round set
for Friday morning.

Speaker 5 (01:18:57):
Joe Chris Williams is killing it through ten. He's six
under and he is sitting right now. Let me refresh
here for birdies one eagle. He's a scott Depot native.
I don't know if that's his home course or not,
but was he on your radar.

Speaker 19 (01:19:14):
To a degree.

Speaker 4 (01:19:15):
Yes, because he and his father won the West Virginia
Parent Child Tournament, which was held at glat Springs over
this past weekend and a ridiculous total of under par.
I can't remember what it was, but yeah, Chris Williams
is one of the top amateur golfers in the state
of West Virginia, no question about. I had a decorated
college career as well, so he's certainly a guy that

(01:19:35):
you know is always in the conversation at TJ. I
find it shocking that you think that's a good score,
because I'm sure that you score thirty on every front
nine that you play for back nine, so I'm sure
it's comparable to what your.

Speaker 9 (01:19:48):
Game is at.

Speaker 5 (01:19:49):
That is my home course. But let me just tell
you what, I ain't nowhere near that, brother. I wish
that were fair enough.

Speaker 2 (01:19:55):
Metroato Sports Joe Bricado. He is the hardest working man
in sports media. Joe. We'll always appreciate it. Great coverage
and you can see highlights from last night's Best Virginia
victory over wv Metro news dot com. Thank you, Joe.

Speaker 16 (01:20:07):
Thanks Chris.

Speaker 2 (01:20:08):
Brad mcilhenning joins us. Next picture a.

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Speaker 15 (01:20:44):
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Speaker 25 (01:20:51):
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Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
That your news talk line is presented by Encovia Insurance
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Speaker 2 (01:21:35):
Texter says three or four Talk three oh four. I'm
a graduate of the West Virginia Wesleyan College nursing program.
It definitely changed my life and helped me achieve my dreams.
I am grateful to have such an incredible opportunity, says
the Texter. If you missed that conversation, good conversation with
doctor James Moore, President at West Virginia Wesleyan College. We'll

(01:21:55):
have a podcast version of the show available for you
coming up. You can find that wherever you download your
favorite podcast. Tomorrow, we're going to spend the entire eleven
o'clock hour with Michael Benson. Doctor Michael Benson, the New
WU Presidency will join us in studio here in the
Miller Building tomorrow morning, eleven o'clock hour here on Metro

(01:22:16):
News talk Line. Joining us in studio from the Charleston
Fortifications this morning is Metro New Statewide correspondent Brad McIlhenny.
As Brad, the vaccination debate will get at least its
first day in courts later today. First of all, good morning, Brad.

Speaker 23 (01:22:32):
Oh hi, good morning and yeah, call it a double
This is a case that divides West Virginia. The governor,
of course, says that West Virginia's relatively new religious exemptions
law should allow people to opt their kids out of
another law, the West Virginia vaccine Regiment that's required for

(01:22:56):
kids going to public school in the state. There are
two two cases, two different days. One in Kanaw County
coming up at one o'clock today in Judge Ballard's courtroom,
is from the perspective of parents who have immunocompromise kids
and they are fighting the governor's executive order, saying that

(01:23:16):
it's overreach and saying that their children could be at
risk tomorrow. If that's not enough for you, there's another
case from the opposite point of view in Raleigh County.
That's ten am, and it is from the perspective of
a mother who wants to send her four year old
daughter to public school, but has asserted in her filing

(01:23:39):
that they have religious concerns about the vaccines. Believe a
variety of things, but one is a connection to fetal
cells from abortion. So you know you're going to get
this in two different local courtrooms over the next two days.
If you look at your calendar, the start of school

(01:24:00):
is approaching for the coming year. And I mean there
could be two different rulings in two different circuit courts
in West Virginia. So I mean, to me, that's a
case eventually over the short long haul. See what I
did there, the short long haul. It seems like the
Supreme Court of the State needs to hear it.

Speaker 5 (01:24:19):
I'm not an attorney. I don't want to put the
cart before the horse. Can we just go to the
Supreme Court? I mean, do we have to have two
separate circuit cases? Because my head's starting to hurt. I mean,
it's gonna end up there. I mean it is right.
I mean, to your point, one judge says one thing
unless they say the same thing, I guess, in which

(01:24:42):
you know it'll still get appealed. So I don't know.

Speaker 23 (01:24:46):
I just well, I mean, times of waste. There's actually
just a confusion whiteboard. There's a federal case too in
north central West Virginia in front of Judge Clee, and
that case is on hold while this state stuff has
worked out.

Speaker 5 (01:25:00):
Yeah, because the Fourth Circuit said the state courts had
to weigh in before the Fed courts. I think in
simple terms.

Speaker 23 (01:25:07):
And you know, to get an adjacent whiteboard. Another issue
in West Virginia is there's a significant opening on the
state Supreme Court. Beth Walker left at the end of
last month. Retired Governor Morrissey is in the act of
choosing her replacement. It's down to four names. He's going
to talk to them himself. This case, if it hit

(01:25:29):
the Supreme Court, could go on without the governor filling
that seat. It could just be a circuit judge setting in.
But you know that the seat that had been occupied
by Beth Walker, I think is an important.

Speaker 5 (01:25:42):
Seat, and it's it's easy to see.

Speaker 23 (01:25:46):
That if this were to go on just a little bit,
that person could be you know, hearing a confluence of
these cases.

Speaker 2 (01:25:55):
Just a practical matter, Brad, you have hundreds of people
who have already applied and been granted the religon just exemptions.
School starts less than a month from now. From a
practical standpoint, I don't know. I don't know how how
you rule in this case, or you know, even do
you grant an injunction do you not? Do you look
at it practically and go, well, can these people get

(01:26:16):
immunized if if you rule this direction, and once you're immunized,
you can't be unimmunized. I would not want to have
to be the judge in this case. Either judges.

Speaker 23 (01:26:27):
The case this afternoon in Knaw is an evident you're hearing,
so I think it may be that people take the stand.
It may be fairly fairly complicated. That doesn't necessarily mean
that the judge will rule today. There may be a
lot to consider and then tomorrow. The case is in
Raleigh County. It's a preliminary injunction question, so the judge

(01:26:50):
still could take a little bit of time, but it's
you know, a ruling on that preliminarily would be expected
in fairly short order. And that judge took note that,
you know, school is about to begin and people need
to know which part of the law they're supposed to
abide by right now. The governor has an executive order
that he says is in place for people to have

(01:27:10):
their religious exemptions to be considered by the Department of Health.
The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the Department
of Education, have have told county school systems, look, we
got to abide by the specific law in West Virginia
that mandates certain vaccines. So yeah, parents, I think of
school children or you know, if you are a teacher

(01:27:33):
or an aide or school personnel, who maybe I mean,
maybe you've been going through cancer treatment, maybe you're I know,
compromised yourself. But if you were of the age where
you could retire, I mean, people, people really have serious life,
daily life decisions to make.

Speaker 5 (01:27:52):
So here's one for you. If since the Raleigh County
case is for injunctive relief, say that's issued, would that
apply to other counties? Would that apply to Ohio County
who I know has an opinion or was seeking illegal
opinion on this, or would a circuit judge up there
have to make that call for that particular county because

(01:28:13):
in the short term here, as messy as this is,
unless do process, you got to go through the motions.
We're going to have one county okaying one thing, another
county doing another thing. It's just going to be all
over the board, which seems or I don't know, maybe
that's the best way to do it. Lot each county
decide what they want. I don't know at this point.

Speaker 23 (01:28:33):
Truly local government. Well, the Raleigh County case, the mother
sued the Raleigh County Board of Education, which was abiding
by what it was told by the State Board. The
State Board and the State Department of Education are defendants
also in that case. So you know, it's kind of
hard to game it out, but it seems like other

(01:28:53):
counties would at least pay attention to what's going on
here and you know, could follow the ruling one way
or another.

Speaker 2 (01:29:00):
He's Metro New state Wide correspondent Brad mclhonney. Brad always appreciate.
Will you come back tomorrow and give us a recap? No, oh, no,
you gotta exactly that's right, it's right. The come back
Friday and give us a recap. How about that?

Speaker 5 (01:29:15):
Good deal?

Speaker 2 (01:29:15):
All right, Brad, thank you, Bud. I appreciate it. This
is talk Line on Metro News. We're back right after this.

Speaker 26 (01:29:21):
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(01:29:44):
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Speaker 15 (01:29:51):
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Speaker 25 (01:30:01):
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Speaker 2 (01:30:40):
Three or four talk three oh four is the text line. Guys,
this is off topic, But I used to play hockey
in Morgantown with James Moore. Great great guy, great jazz musician.
But he does not let you forget. He is a
pit grad, says the Texter.

Speaker 5 (01:31:00):
I could see him lay in a check on somebody.

Speaker 4 (01:31:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:31:03):
I really like him. I think he's bright. I think
he's got a pretty good idea about what higher education
needs to be in the future. It can't be what
it was. I think he's got a pretty good handle
on those things. Really really like our discussions with him.

Speaker 5 (01:31:19):
High energy guy too, which I enjoy and appreciate.

Speaker 2 (01:31:23):
Texter says, my body is my religion. I treat it
like a temple and should not have to do anything
to it that my religion says. I shouldn't, says the Texter.

Speaker 5 (01:31:32):
Should I say it for thee hundredth of time or
let it go?

Speaker 2 (01:31:36):
God's up to you.

Speaker 5 (01:31:38):
You don't have to You do not have to get vaccinated.
You only have to be vaccinated if you want to
go to a public school.

Speaker 2 (01:31:49):
Three oh four talk three four is the text line.
This does get messy quick. You brought up a really
good point. Does the if injunctive relief is granted in
Raleigh County, does that apply beyond Raleigh County? Do we
have to go through this in all fifty five counties?
Does then your legal council go well, and they gave

(01:32:10):
an injunctive relief in Raleigh County, we better go with
that to be on the safe side. Yeah, this gets
messy quick, which was bound to do. I wish there
was an express lane to the State Supreme Court, so
we could just handle it and move on. School starts
in a month.

Speaker 5 (01:32:26):
Yeah, I think there is, but I'm not sure what
kind of case it has to be for that to happen.
I'm not sure if the court has to be the
one that does it, or if someone has to file.
But we've seen cases go straight to the court before
for some kind of summary judgment. I just don't know.
I'm not smart enough to know what the criteria is.
I have to talk to somebody that's an attorney, knows
what they're talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:32:48):
Let me see three or four talk three four. TJ's
laugh is very similar to George mcflies. All right, that
one's a bit on the random side today.

Speaker 5 (01:33:00):
Didn't compare me to Biff. That would have got on
our nerves.

Speaker 2 (01:33:03):
Um did we get to this one? Thank you to
whomever invented roundabouts. They eliminate stop signs and god forsaken
traffic lights, says the Texter the round the great roundabout debate.
Always been a fan, always have been a fan of
those roundabouts are paying for tractor travelers. I will agree

(01:33:24):
with you there. I will agree with you there. You've
got a heck of a job. Trying to get a
fifty fifty two foot fifty three foot trailer through a roundabout.

Speaker 5 (01:33:33):
I hear you.

Speaker 2 (01:33:33):
And you got the huge blind spots that nobody respects.
I hear you. I hear them.

Speaker 5 (01:33:36):
But in most places, roundabouts are where you wouldn't necessarily
have truck traffic class aid traffic, right or am I
wrong in that? I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:33:46):
Well, you have one in Morgantown up here at the
intersection with seven oh five in the mile ground. But
that's a big roundabout, right, it's fairly big. They still
have the buses, still have a tight buses. And if
you're if you're driving a big truck trying to get
from some down them or down mile ground to seven
oh five or vice versa, you got to get through there.

Speaker 5 (01:34:06):
I'd defer to the people who drive those vehicles.

Speaker 2 (01:34:08):
Roundabouts are awesome. Go mo, Higgins says. The Texter seems
like a fine place to wrap things up today. All right,
Doctor Michael Benson, new w President going to join us
for the entire eleven o'clock hour coming up on tomorrow's program.
So think about if you've got some questions, you can
text those in. We'll try to work those into the
conversation as the show unfolds tomorrow. For Zach Carroll check

(01:34:31):
on the video stream, Sofia Wahick work in the audio side,
and TJ. Meadows. I'm Dave Wilson. Have a great day.
Metro News Midday coming up on many of these same
Metro News radio stations. This is talk Line on Metro News,
the voice of West Virginia.

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